AtmanIsBrahman

Notice listening requires someone you’re listening to. It’s fundamentally a giving away of authority. Obviously we can learn from people, just have to be careful and aware of what you’re doing. Just felt the need to add this in here 😁

Okay, that title was partly shock value… but I do actually kind of mean it. I’m not an incel or redpiller, but I decided to look into looksmaxxing to see if it’s really that bad or if there’s something to it. What I found was that beneath the surface of weird ideology and dangerous techniques, the core is actually very solid. Basically, attractiveness is objective. That means that humans all more or less find the same things attractive (I’m not saying it’s objective beyond humans). As long as you live in the social world of survival, you will have to deal with other humans— you will judge them and they will judge you. One of the main metrics that matters for survival is your attractiveness. There’s plenty of evidence that attractiveness affects how people are treated. It’s obvious in sexuality, but it also affects every other aspect of life like your career; the evidence is undeniable. Even babies react better to attractive faces. So the idea of looksmaxxing is that you are taking seriously this aspect of survival and instead of just accepting what the genetic lottery gave you, you decide to take matters into your own hands. For those who don’t know, there is softmaxxing and hardmaxxing. Softmaxxing is doing basic things like exercise, diet, and hygiene, while hardmaxxing involves surgeries or drugs. Everyone knows about softmaxxing, but hardmaxxing is where this becomes interesting. There are things you can do to significantly improve your appearance, like plastic surgery of all kinds and taking testosterone or other drugs. Of course some of these methods are dangerous, but if you go about it safely you can improve your appearance with no downsides. I think plastic surgery will become much more popular in the next 100 years. People who are ugly will realize they can choose to look good. What’s interesting is that it creates an arms race where everyone is trying to upgrade their beauty to meet the new standard. Also, kids will have to get plastic surgeries because their parents’ genetics won’t be as good as their looks. This means humanity will become more and more artificial… but we’re already doing that. Contemplate: what is the difference between natural and artificial anyway? . . . A lesson in collapsing dualities. Now consider this, if you care about survival then looksmaxxing is probably a good idea. Use your own judgment of course, but logically it makes sense to do at least to some extent. And of course this is all pure ego… but have you transcended the ego and don’t care about survival at all? Probably not.

@Leo Gura What happened to good/bad being relative? It sounds like you’re saying that it’s absolute now, which is kind of shocking. If reality is a dream, why does it matter if you lie to one of the dream characters? You’re dreaming yourself lying too, so it’s all a dream within a dream. There’s no actual morality in a dream. Honestly, Star Wars is very stage blue in terms of morality, very us vs them (Jedi vs Sith). I’m surprised that you’re holding it in such high regard.

I think you have a point that genetics are important. But it’s not about being good at a meditation technique or something like that— it’s about truth orientation. That’s what I’ve discovered so far at least. If you’re interested in Actualized.org, that’s already an indicator that you’re probably gifted in terms of care for truth, metaphysical intuition, etc. And what @aurum said

Why do anything at all if you are 100% complete? For example, why eat food— if you are complete then why survive at all? Doing anything aside from just being seems to require some sense of being incomplete, even if it is very minimal.

Linking this blog post by Leo which relates to looksmaxxing. In case anyone missed it https://actualized.org/insights/mike-israetel-on-physical-appearance

The mentality that it’s nothing new can be a big cope, to use the new generation’s terminology. Of course people knew looks are important in the past, but looksmaxxing argues that they are the clearly most important factor in attraction (and also have an effect in normal socializing/career). Also, things like plastic surgeries, pharmaceuticals, etc. have evolved a lot. It is much more possible to significantly improve your looks now than in the past. There are lessons to be learned from looksmaxxing. It’s an important example of applying truth as the highest value. You need to look into the truth, regardless of what the outcome might be. In this case, I think the truth is that looksmaxxing has a lot of corruption in it, but there is a lot of truth to be found too.

@tvaeli It seems like you’re building a conceptual framework to reconcile matter and spirit/consciousness. But ask, which one is actually fundamental? Does it make sense for there to be two sides to reality?

You've been talking about sovereignty of mind for a while, but there still isn't a video on it. It's only been teased in parts of different videos. A full video would be very helpful for people like myself who have been contemplating it on our own. An episode on Sovereignty of Mind would be amazing, bringing together all the aspects of epistemology, self-help, and metaphysics. The main theme is that you can't trust anyone and need to figure out reality for yourself. You have to deconstruct every human idea to reach truth. This is true about self-help too: you can't just do what average people do and get great results, it takes something more. The episode could also cover how this connects to God-Realization, where you grasp that you are the one sovereign Mind that is Existence.

@oOo Can you rephrase that differently? Not sure what you’re trying to say.

Agreed

Sure, I agree. But we’re not on the spiritual part of the forum. As long as you care about survival, attractiveness does matter. That’s something you can choose to deny or not.

Looksmaxxing is interesting to look at as an example of survival. Why do people looksmax? Survival. Why are people against looksmaxxing? Survival.

I don’t think this true. People agree on most things. There can be some preferences, but they’re insignificant compared to the objective metrics. Looksmaxxing is new in the sense that technology is advancing and it’s possible to make bigger changes to appearance

Recently I have tried to found some genuine spiritual music. Unfortunately it’s almost nonexistent. Interestingly though, Sadhguru actually has made some songs along with the Isha Foundation. I didn’t have high expectations, but some of them are actually good, and most importantly the lyrics are very profound. Here are some of the best ones I found.

I think the key to this thread is that there is no difference between creating and discovering. If reality is one mind, and you are it, creation and discovery are the same thing. I think you’re getting at the problem of self deception and specifically confirmation bias. Of course you could always be deluding yourself, but trying to relativize everything doesn’t help either. You’re basically saying that every perspective is equal in a postmodernist sense. Do you believe there is no absolute truth? And if so, is that itself an absolute truth claim? @Joshe

About the Pascal blog post, I disagree with the framing that Pascal was some kind of genius who understood the limits of science. He seems to have been a good scientific thinker who had one mystical experience, but that doesn’t mean he was that advanced. It’s a trap to assume that scientists of the past were beyond modern materialists just because they believed in God. That’s an underestimation of the power of conformity and belief. The most intelligent scientific minds may be philosophically and existentially stupid— they’re different domains. It’s also wrong to assume that what people in the past meant by faith/the heart is the same as direct experience. No, they’re often just talking about believing something.

@Leo Gura What are the most common ways that people go wrong thinking they have outsmarted the teachings? And how do you avoid treating actualized.org as a belief system while also avoiding falling into delusions?

Lyrical highlights from second song: This one is even more profound. “The impish me and the absolute ME Many think a contradiction But a perfect complement” This is hinting at solipsism. “I was born in my mother's womb but she did not create me” More solipsism. “My words and my songs, my smiles and my mirth are but a ploy to entrap you in my limitless void” Everything of the world is survival and illusion, ultimately. But you aren’t trapped in an ugly space; it is a limitless emptiness that is ultimately beautiful. “As the dance of life progresses, this space, this unboundedness, has become unbearably sweet Become love, reach out Become me” A beautiful ending

Here are some lyrical highlights from the first song. “A seemingly endless thought and emotion weaving webs of Maya. In effort to find Comfort sacrificing the very Cosmic In the blossoming of this Being lies the Source.” Weaving webs of Maya is a similar idea to Leo’s crocodile of self-deception. Maya will trap you in its web or drag you into its murky waters, whichever you prefer “Life has come from a very beautiful source. If you remain in touch with that source, Everything about you shall be beautiful.” This is a nice way of putting spirituality in terms of beauty. There is love, there is truth, there is void, there is bliss, and there is beauty. Reality is absolute beauty.

@LastThursday@Breakingthewall You say it’s arbitrary or just a possibility of existence, but do you know that for sure? You may be right, but somehow it feels important to keep questioning deeper, even if there might be no real answer.

In contemplating, I find that one of the most fundamental questions— and one largely ignored by actualized.org— is the relationship between the human and the absolute. Now I know what you’re going to say: “They’re the same. You are God!” But I think that’s missing the mark. First of all, are you directly conscious of that? If not, then don’t parrot it. If you are, still hear me out on this. Basically, you are a human and will be for the entirety of this life. You may realize God, but at the end of the day you still have to deal with survival and all kinds of human limitations. Isn’t it strange that God decided to have two arms, two legs, and a human face? I think this fact isn’t addressed by the realization that you are God. Sure, you are God, but why is God— at least for now— incarnated as a human? I’m interested if anyone has an answer to this problem. Until it’s resolved, God-realization isn’t complete omniscience, isn’t a complete understanding of everything. @Leo Gura

A Koan for everyone: Why does God have two arms, two legs, and a head?

But why are you playing the mini game?

I do care to know. But I’m not sure how possible taking off layers is (besides physical death). Psychedelics only do it for a time. Mostly you’re living as a human.